NAB to distribute: Rs16m for K-P’s Hajj scam victims

Amount to be distributed at a simple ceremony on October 18.

PESHAWAR:

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chapter, has announced it will distribute Rs16 million among the 234 people affected by a Hajj scam in 2008, a spokesman for the bureau said on Tuesday.

The decision was taken in light of the Accountability Court’s verdict, which was upheld by the Peshawar High Court on a NAB K-P reference filed some two years back against a travel company. The amount will be distributed among the victims of the scam at a simple ceremony which will be held at the NAB office in Peshawar on October 18.

NAB had initiated an inquiry against Abdul Aqeel, the owner of Aqeel Travels & Tours Nowshera, as well as others in response to joint complaint lodged by 59 people. The number of complaints eventually increased during the process of inquiry.

The accused had deprived the people of their hard-earned money on the pretext of sending them for Hajj in 2008.

The Accountability Court Peshawar convicted the accused for a term of seven years of imprisonment with a fine of Rs40 million. The PHC also dismissed the appeal of the accused and upheld the decision of accountability court. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2011.